Fishing

Firth Lake is one of the finest smallmouth bass lakes
in Canada. There is no closed season on bass in our area. Firth is not a deep lake and thus has a great deal of fishable structure. It also allows the lake to warm quickly in the spring for early optimum fishing conditions and swimming.
We have two 130 foot non-floating docks that provide ample space for our boating guests.

Jack takes first time guests for a short tour of the lake to point out good fishing spots and can be talked into guiding as time permits. Jack has been fishing the area and Firth Lake for more than 30 years and has fished many of the outlying lakes. He is a big fan of action-packed pike fishing and it is not uncommon to catch more than 15 pike per person during a pike fishing trip.

The fishing is easy, live bait is always successful but with such a good population of fish (find out why), lure fishing is also very productive. Jack loves fly fishing for bass. Catching a 4 pound bass on a fly rod ruins you for trout forever. Jack has caught several pike on fly also. Catching bass on ultra light tackle is also great fun. The fishing for walleye is best in June. The bass fishing is good all the time but peaks in mid July to mid August.

Conservation

Even though Ontario has no size limit on the fish that you keep, we strongly encourage our guests to follow our camp policy of killing no Bass or Walleye over 16 inches. This allows the larger breeding sized fish to pass on their superior genes and allows us to catch much higher quality fish. You can catch and enjoy fighting a fish many times but you can only eat it once. It is also a fact of life that the larger older fish concentrate airborne contaminants from the south. So its better for everyone – the fish, you and other resource users to eat the numerous smaller fish and release the big breeders.

Bonfires

Each night (weather permitting) we gather on the beach for a bonfire to swap stories and enjoy the company of our guests. This ritual has been long cherished by our visitors and we find it a great way to relax after our busy days. This family friendly activity brings out the conversation in all of us as we watch the dancing flames. The beach faces north and makes for ideal Aurora Borealis or Northern Light watching. On clear nights the sky is lit up by the Northern Lights, thus we are provided with fireworks courtesy of Mother Nature with the melodious background music of the three mated pairs of loons residing on the lake.

Swimming

Sportsmen’s Camp has several features that make it somewhat unique. We are one of the few Canadian Camps with a natural beach with gradually sloping lake depth. It makes for ideal safe swimming for children. Since the lake is not very deep, it warms quickly in the summer. Water temperatures from July through September range in the mid to upper seventies (F).

Experience Wildlife

We are in a wild area. We commonly see moose,
bears, lynx, fox, otters, mink, pine squirrels, flying squirrels, chipmunks, ravens, bald eagles, osprey, loons, great blue herons, common mergansers, common goldeneyes, black duck, spruce grouse (stupid chickens), ruffed grouse, great horned and great grey owls and numerous interesting species of boreal songbirds, warblers, flycatchers, etc., and featuring the ever popular white throated sparrow – the famed “Canada bird.”

You’ll almost never get to see wolves but you have a good chance of hearing their howls at twilight. We’re very proud to have a nesting pair of osprey on the lake. We often get to hear the happy squeals of the young ones being fed while we’re out fishing. The bald eagles come over the lake daily and are often engaged in some entertaining dogfights with the ospreys.

Trebuchet Boat Sinking

Yes – Jack is crazy. No hyperbole here just fact. Jack completed his second full sized trebuchet a couple years back. Its about 25 to 30 feet tall and uses about 3/4 of a ton of granite as motive force to throw 20 lb plus granite boulders at an old boat anchored in the lake.

 We usually sink a boat every summer. (We always remove the hulk after it has gone down) It takes about three men and a boy or a 4 wheeler to cock the device. Its common for the kids to track Jack down toward the end of the day and ask , “Can we throw some stones?” And we usually lob about three boulders at our hapless victim. Its a great time. See the video here.